From the creators of Dragon Quest V, Final Fantasy III and IV for the DS, Thousand Arms, Fatal Frame, and Grandia comes Nostalgia, an original steampunk role-playing game for the Nintendo DS.

Advertisement

Released in Japan as Nostalgeo no Kaze, Ignition Entertainment and Tecmo join forces with Matrix Software and Red Entertainment to bring the game stateside as Nostalgia. It's a combination of a unique setting with some of the top talent in old-school RPG development. Players will explore the world of an alternate 19th-century Earth in the role of Eddie, a headstrong Londoner who gathers a group of quirky companions together, travelling the world in a "steampunk-inspired" zeppelin. Players will visit alternate versions of New York, London, Cairo, Africa, and Russia; doing battle in both traditional turn-based combat and massive airship battles.

While the game sounds impressive, the development team's pedigree is even more so.

Advertisement

Developed by Matrix Software (Dragon Quest V PS2, Final Fantasy III-IV DS), in association with Red Entertainment (Gungrave, Bonk, Thousand Arms), Nostalgia brings together a powerful think-tank of old-school Japanese RPG development talent to present a stunning new vision in gaming. Produced by Keisuke Kikuchi (Fatal Frame, Tokobot) and directed by Naoki Morita (Sakura Taisen), with art direction by Yoshiteru Tsujino (Far East of Eden), airship design by Takuhito Kusanagi (Grandia, Blue Submarine No.6, Samurai 7), and enemy design by Keita Amemiya (Iria- Zeiram the Animation, Kamen Rider), Tecmo has amassed an all-star dream team of industry veterans to forge a brand new DS adventure that hearkens back to the classic glory days of Japanese role-playing games.

Nostalgia is due to be released in North America in September of this year. While we await screenshots and the like, feel free to drool lightly over the feature list issued with the official announcement.

Key Game Features:

Sponsored

• Ambitious, fully 3D polygonal graphical engine offers dramatic, sweeping camera angles and impressive vistas rarely seen in a DS title.
• Cohesive, anime-inspired art direction that effectively captures the game's turn-of-the-century charm.
• Travel to incredibly unique, non-traditional RPG locales via airship including London, New York, Cairo, Africa, and Russia.
Features two distinct combat engines: One is a brisk, turn-based close-quarters melee between your party members and monsters; while the other offers thrilling, large-scale airship battles. In addition, your battle skills are scored at the conclusion of each conflict, inspiring strategic mastery.
• Handy in-game notebook feature keeps track of people, monsters, airships and items you've run across. • Plenty of user-defined customization, allowing the player to trick out his or her airship with various weapons, armor types, and special skill attacks. The player can also choose character-specific skills from a branching tree for a more personalized experience.
• Explore a variety of diverse, engaging dungeons that include brain bending puzzles and tricky Indiana Jones-style traps.
• Optional quest system inspires players to approach the adventure from a less linear perspective, extending the life of the gameplay experience.